Tag: good food

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good burger. Growing up, it didn’t matter where we went out to dinner, whether it was fancy or casual, or what the occasion was, I’d get a burger. I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not.

Naturally, living in San Diego has endless options for delicious burgers, and I’m not just talking about In-N-Out Burger.

Best Build-Your-Own Burger

Whether you go for the grass-fed beef or opt for the turkey burger, Great Maple’s burger patties are flavorful and made with the finest ingredients. What do I recommend you add on to your burger? Cheddar, bacon and caramelized onions. Upgrade your fries to the truffle fries (come on now, they’re only $1 more) and you’ve got yourself one hell of a meal.

Best Homemade Burger

To be honest, no matter what you choose to order at Dan Diego’s, you will know it’s made with love. This place is undoubtedly our favorite place to go in San Diego, because it’s local, family-owned, and everything is homemade. About the burger though? Let me tell you what it consists of:

Ground steak patty

Sharp cheddar cheese

Corned beef

Caramelized onions

Bacon

Horseradish Sauce

This thing is unreal. Pair this burger with one of their many unique beers on tap (or enjoy with my personal favorite, a “red cider” [half hard cider, half sangria]) and life will be perfect. I do advise that you don’t eat the whole thing and you save some room for dessert. One of the owners makes all of the desserts herself, and the bread pudding is everything you could ever possibly want in a dessert, so plan accordingly and thank me later!

Best Bacon Burger

What is the 50-50 burger? It’s half ground beef, half ground bacon. This is an obvious pick for bacon lovers. They even have a burger called the B’ B’ Bacon Burger, which includes bacon american cheese, bacon, bacon island dressing and a bacon pretzel bun. Excessive? Maybe. But if you’re a bacon lover, this is your spot. Pair it with one of their many, many amazing beers on tap and you’ll be a happy camper.

* The brand of bacon I buy provides really big slices of bacon, so feel free to add less (or more!) depending on your preference. And the jalapeños I bought were larger than normal too…so again, adjust this amount to your preference. For the last *, I wanted to note that I use adobo, which is only the greatest spice ever so you should get it (but really it’s just a mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder and other things).

Directions:

Preheat your over to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lightly toast the breadcrumbs in a bit of the leftover bacon fat (I used 1-2 tsp). Set aside to cool.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Then add 3-4 tsp of the leftover bacon fat, and the diced jalapeños, and cook for a minute or two.

Mix in the flour, and then add in your milk. Let this reduce for a couple of minutes, and then add in your cheeses a little at a time, and slowly (but constantly) whisk until the cheese begins to thicken.

Add in your crumbled bacon and diced chicken, and stir, making sure everything is coated.

Finally, add in your cooked pasta and mix thoroughly.

Pour this delicious mixture into a large baking dish (I used a 9×13 inch glass pan), and spread the breadcrumbs on top.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Allow to sit for a few minutes before digging in. It will be hard but you need to learn to be more patient anyway, so this will be a good exercise for that.

All day Monday was spent driving through Texas (literally all the way across) from Austin through El Paso, and to Silver City, New Mexico for the night.

Before we got to our hotel, we did what we did throughout the trip: we stopped and got dinner.

We did some Googling and Yelping before getting to Silver City, and decided on The Jalisco Cafe.

We got an incredible combination plate, which included chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos, rice and beans, as well as chiles rellenos (stuffed peppers). We opted for the green chile sauce, which was spicier that the other option, but we were happy since green chiles are native to New Mexico. The pictures of the food weren’t all that great, but I promise you that if you’re in or around Silver City, this place is a must. Even the locals we talked to agreed.

We then headed to our hotel, the Econolodge in Silver City. It was merely a place for us to rest our heads, but we were surprised by all of the amenities in the room and at the hotel (including a microwave and fridge, swimming pool, and full breakfast), and we would definitely stay here again.

The next day, we woke up early, and began our trip west for our last day of our trip. I was most excited about New Mexico before my trip began and I was not disappointed by its beauty.

Next stop: Arizona.

Not much to write about here. By this point we were eager to get to San Diego. We did stop in Yuma for lunch and liked that city a lot. We planned on getting In-N-Out but then saw there was a Chipotle and thought that would be a healthier option after all the food we ate during our trip (and before, with Thanksgiving and various dinners/happy hours with friends and family before leaving).

More Arizona…

Then we made it to California!

We got into San Diego around 4:00 pm, after 9 hours of driving. As we drove towards the city and got off our exit, I made Adam put on California Love for me. It was necessary.

Our beautiful hotel room at the Windgate in Round Rock, TX. This was by far our favorite hotel from our trip, and the second cheapest. Our room included a sofa bed (which we obviously didn’t use), king size bed, cable, free wifi (this was also the best wifi of all the hotels we stayed at), and a free breakfast in the morning (again, the best breakfast of all the hotels, as it included hot entrees, including biscuits and gravy).

We might have had BBQ in Nashville but Texas BBQ is different. We picked up brisket, sausage, ribs, baked beans, green beans, creamed corn and tamale pie at Johnny T’s in Round Rock before stopping at the hotel for the night. It was all amazing.

Maeby wanted some of our food.

We stopped at Pebble Hills Dog Park in El Paso, TX on our way to New Mexico. We had a little trouble finding it (the GPS directed us to a library, and the park was a little bit past that), but once we found it, Maeby had a great time. She also got to make new friends, and the people there were really nice (just as they were in Jackson, MS).

More Texas.

We had to stop at Whataburger. It had to happen; we were in Texas, after all. And Adam wouldn’t stop talking about how we had to go there…so we did. I wasn’t disappointed. It was really good.